From high end to High Street, there’s a tempting array of slip dresses and spaghetti-strap frocks perfect for hot-spot holidays and British heatwaves.
But some — for religious reasons or because they’re not confident about their bodies — don’t want bare arms. With those women in mind, we’ve found summer 2022’s most covetable dresses with sleeves, in the coolest fabrics; in different cuts and hemlines; in prints, plains and a paintbox of colours.
6. Off-shoulder floral print, £89, Cos 7. Cotton shirt dress, £225, Ganni 8. Midi with check, now £198, Plumo 9. Meadow print, now £139, Plumo 10. Floral pure cotton, £90, Monsoon
UK It label, Me + Em uses a super-lightweight silk-cotton blend for a floaty boho maxi in emerald, and crafts fine, white cotton into a flirty mini; Aussie label Alémais uses lightweight linen voile for paisley-print shirt dresses; Danish label Ganni uses organic cotton-poplin for wrap midi dresses in pastel stripes; Matches has cotton lawn with sleeves by French label Merlette and New York label Sea; Camilla Ridley of Ridley London uses Liberty’s famously fresh Tana Lawn for ruffle-trimmed midi dresses; while Boden has just launched a limited edition ‘Remix’ collection of most loved styles including midi and maxi dresses with sleeves in high quality cotton — part of its “Better Cotton Initiative.”
Another on-trend option for bare-arm refusers is wearing a super lightweight tee or shirt under a strappy dress. It is claimed this trend started with Korean street-style but I think Jerusalem seems more likely.